Milestones Week in Blockchain! Cambridge Associates, Facebook, Twitter, JPM
Key Takeaways
• As discussed on Feb 5th, Marshmello performed a live concert in Fortnite and had 10 million concurrent viewers. This relates to many important milestones that occurred in blockchain last week.
• Facebook — this is important! Facebook obviously has a trust problem. Then on Friday, the WSJ revealed a test which showed that Facebook software collects data from many apps even if no Facebook account is used to log in and even if the end user isn’t a Facebook member. Just when people were starting to say that Facebook was cleaning up their act, their trust problem just got a lot bigger.
• Separately last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg.said he was “potentially interested” in putting the Facebook login on the blockchain in a Harvard Law interview, reported by The Verge. He said the blockchain could give users unique powers when granting data access to third-party apps.
You basically take your information, you store it on some decentralized system and you have the choice of whether to log in in different places and you’re not going through an intermediary. — Mark Zuckerberg
• When high speed EOS raised $4bn, it was larger than any other IPO year to date and more than double the next biggest offering of that type. Google is spending ~$14bn this year on datacenters and equipment for datacenters. Facebook is spending ~$18bn-$20bn up from $13bn last year or an incremental $5bn — $7bn. Facebook rolling out a blockchain could help them in many ways 1) good PR 2) a new way to collect user data 3) develop a new video game and entertainment strategy!
• Twitter announced Tippin.me, which gives users an easy way to give tips in Bitcoin through the Lightning network through a simple button embedded in Twitter. As someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about eSports, the first thought is -Twitter has just created their own version of Amazon Twitch!
• JPM Coin. This is the one that you may have focussed on even though it isn’t really a coin at all, but rather an internal implementation of a private blockchain. Still, it is an important milestone due to the size of JPM and given the product enables really efficient solution to the painful process of making payments cross border payments. Also, as a bank with correspondent banking relationships and tech pipes in place to connect to other financial institutions, it leapfrogs Ripple’s comparable product and seems to significantly diminish its value.
• Cambridge Associates is a very well known consultant to investors. In case you missed their report from last week, it is here and while it notes “the vast majority of institutional investors have little to no cryptoasset exposure, it also recommends, “institutional investors should begin exploring it.”
Please let me know if I can help in this process and if you would like to discuss!
Angie
SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPENED LAST WEEK IN CRYPTO!
As discussed on Feb 5th, Marshmello performed a live concert in Fortnite and had 10 million concurrent viewers. A day later, despite the Super Bowl’s record low viewership and poor ratings, the head of NBC Sports raved about the streaming numbers, which were reported at 2.1 million concurrents. This is all related to many important milestones that occurred in blockchain this week.
Facebook — this is important. Facebook obviously has a trust problem. They have already been accused misuse of user data and lacking consent when selling user data. Specifically, Real Time Bidding (RTB) enables a domino effect of selling user data through the ad tech food chain without getting consent. As of last week, we know that they are getting very personal data from apps via Facebook Connect. On Friday, the WSJ revealed a test which showed that Facebook software collects data from many apps even if no Facebook account is used to log in and even if the end user isn’t a Facebook member.
Just when people were starting to say that Facebook had been cleaning up their act, in fact, their trust problem grew.
Separately last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg.said he was “potentially interested” in putting the Facebook login on the blockchain in a Harvard Law interview, reported by The Verge. He said the blockchain could give users unique powers when granting data access to third-party apps.
You basically take your information, you store it on some decentralized system and you have the choice of whether to log in in different places and you’re not going through an intermediary. — Mark Zuckerberg
What this means is that they could scrap Facebook Connect for a blockchain solution which would allow authentication in a decentralised, no intervention from any party, more secure way.
This follows two important events on this topic. First they formed the blockchain team last May, led by David Marcus, who was formerly the VP of Messenger. Then they acquired blockchain firm Chainspace, which works on research and development of smart contracts.
In the blockchain world, we thought EOS raising $4bn was enormous and at the time, it was larger than any other IPO year to date and more than double the next biggest offering of that type. For context —
Google spending $14bn this year on datacenters and equipment for datacenters.
Facebook spending $18bn-$20bn up from $13bn last year. So Facebook is spending an incremental $5bn — $7bn this year.
Putting this metric in contrast to the EOS raise, it doesn’t seem like a stretch for Facebook to build whatever blockchain they want to build. Also, it would help solve their current public relations crisis in two ways:
A blockchain solution would allow users to permission their data by type and by recipient.
More importantly, a blockchain solution would give them a new way to collect data on users. Despite the fact that their earnings reports have held up, it seems this is only due to the fact that they are in a brief period of reality distortion — CMOs still only have two choices for digital, Facebook and Google. So even though by definition they are collecting less data and reducing the shelves upon which they can sell advertising, there is nowhere else for buyers to go.
Back to Marshmello, this could change when brand dollars finally find their way onto the internet. When 10 million people “tune in” for a DJ with mass appeal, on can imagine a world of many new economies that dip into the massive TV advertising budget. Blockchain accelerated this as discussed last week here.
Separate but related, I have always believed that Twitter has the potential to be the online destination for brands given the tribal nature of its large communities and all that they have to offer the ability to “tune in”. Last week, the company announced Tippin.me, which gives users an easy way to give tips in Bitcoin through the Lightning network through a simple button embedded in Twitter. As someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about eSports, Twitter has just created their own version of Amazon Twitch! Twitch allows content creators and gaming streamers make money through 1) donations from fans, 2) paid subscriptions — Amazon takes ~ half of the $4.99 per month 3) ad revenue, and 4) sponsorships. One such streamer with 800k subscribers on Twitch revealed that he makes about $20k / month.
Facebook rolling out a blockchain could help them in many ways 1) good PR 2) a new way to collect user data 3) develop a new video game and entertainment strategy! Imagine users playing games, watching content and just generally getting entertained while Facebook’s blockchain in running in the background and users don’t even know it. Blockchain being invisible and running in the background is inevitable and the ultimate goal for blockchain technology — we wont talk about Facebook Games or Facebook TV running on underlying blockchain technology in the same way that we didn’t talk about email that runs on HTTP.
JPM Coin. This is the one that you may have focussed on even though it isn’t really a coin at all, but rather an internal implementation of a private blockchain. Still, it is an important milestone due to the size of JPM and given the product enables really efficient solution to the painful process of making payments cross border payments. Also, as a bank with correspondent banking relationships and tech pipes in place to connect to other financial institutions, it leapfrogs Ripple’s comparable product and seems to significantly diminish its value.
